Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-10-01

At eight o'clock in the morning in some of
the Suffolk villages may be heard the tolling
of the church-bell. This is the CLEANERS
bell" which marks the hour before which
custom forbids them to enter the fields for
the August days are long and hot, and the
cleaners are the wives and little ones of the
village. At six in the evening the bell Is
tolled again for the work to cease; and the
women return, bearing their corn in bundles
on their heads, while the children, even the
youngest, carry trim little sheaves of wheat.
"What falls from the sickle comes to the
poor" the women answer, if asked their
right to CLEAN; and though judges have de-
cided that trespass for the purpose is not
lawful the feeling of the countryside is all
in favor of the gracious old custom. But
the liberty of entry so given has limits
which are well understood by those con-
cerned. Leave to "glean among the
sheaves' would be considered as unusual
favor now as it was in the days of Ruth.
Formerly, perhaps, when the wheat was
reaped with the sickle and no great quantity
escaped the binders, the village-folk were
carted. But now the scythe or reaping-
machine scatters the ears, and it is neceS-
sary to exclude the cleaners until the
horse-rake has done its work. Two
sheaves of wheat left upright in the
centre of the field are sign that, for the
present, it is forbidden ground. Meantime
the women have found out from their
husbands the time at which the first field is
likely to be cleared, and assemble in lively
crowd outside the gate. The elder girls ac-
company their mothers, and even the babies
are brought out in the rough wooden carts
which serve as their perambulators or as
trucks to carry home groceries from the viii
lage-shop to the distant cottages. AS the last
wagon leaves the field the farmer gives Or
ders for the removal of the warning sheaves.
Then the crowd flock in and spread over the
stubble. Those ears which have the longest
and made up into bundles. The field is then
searched second time for those with
shorter straws and for the ''cobs," as the
ears which are broken from the stem are
called. The former are made up as before,
while the cobs are thrust into a wide
pocket which each woman fastens to her
apron.
This second gathering is called "pickling,"
and is less easy than the first. The quantity
gathered depends largely upon the skill of
the cleaner. Some Of the women are very
dexterous in picking up the short corn,
and pride themselves upon the amount of
their cleaning. When the corn is threshed
out and the results compared they differ
greatly. A clever cleaner will often gather
three bushels in the season. A mother and
two daughters of fifteen and fourteen may
well expect five bushels; two bushels is
considered fair quantity for one person. If
the corn is of good quality it is generally
and threshed out by the father of the family,
either in some barn lent to him for the pur-
pose or occasionally upon the cottage-foor.
At such times the stroke of the fail may
still be heard; otherwise its spirited sound
has nearly ceased in the country, just as
the cheerful ring of the milestone on the
scythe has given place on our lawns to the
monotonous chatter of the mowing-machine
The value of cleaning corn" depends
much upon the weather which has pre-
vailed during harvest. AS it lies upon the
ground damp affects it readily. The grain
is sweet and clammy. Barley is sometimes
CLEANED as well as wheat, especially where
the laborers have pigs or fowls; but it is
generally neglected. and the farmer turns
his own swine or turkeys into the stubble
The bean stubbleis also pulled up by frugal
cottagers, to be used as fuel in winter,
and piled in tiny stacks in their gardens.
After this cleaning ceases and the fields have
rest till the next autumn.
In some counties where there are many
orchards it is usual to allow the children to
enter them and gather any fruit left upon
the trees after the days apple-picking; Gus
tom which recalls the Jewish ordinance
that all the grapes in vineyard shall not be
plucked, nor the cleaners there forbidden.
Formerly leave was given to all the parish
to CLEAN where they pleased. Now some of
the farmers reserve the right for the wives
of those that work upon their land. But the
change is not general, and merry parties of
women, with children of all ages. still crowd
the fields. To them it is a fortnight's picnic.
Parents and children bear brown faces and
light hearts; and until the last field is
CLEANED the smart new board school must
stand empty.-St. James Gazette.